Aesthetics vs Practicality in Selling a Home

[mjkacmom]

I think it's kind of a no-win situation actually. Experienced buyers (or even just those with decent realtors) will likely want the major items either re-done prior to the sale or a discount for having to do them after. BUT if the style and decor is off-putting, many will dismiss the house out-of-hand without even getting that far.

There is a reason realtors suggest paint and staging (our agency paid for the staging).

 

[Melissa55]

Hey. People spend 2,000-3,000 extra depending on floor plan to have cabinets that look like cheap fiberboard bookcases. They're composite and not cheap. They don't scratch easily, clean very easily. Hence why people like them. They're only going to get more popular now that there are various brands of waterproof wood that can easily go in a kitchen or bathroom and that LVP is looking better and better. People want their quartz top, white cabinets, and their wood floor. I think some of the new waterproof woods are going to take over the market down here.

Reminds me of the Dolly Parton quote, “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap!”

 

[Heather07438]

Many buyers try to picture themselves functioning in the space. Neutral colors assist them to get that feel.

 

[tvguy]

We passed on a 20 year old house a couple weeks ago that had original furnace, roof, water heater and windows. No thanks. We have replaced all of those in our current 22 year old home and know how expensive they are, so we weren't willing to invest more in a house that hadn't been maintained.

I guess it depends on the quality of the furnace, roofing materials, water heater and windows. I sold my parents 53 year old house with the original furnace and a/c and windows. The roof was about 10 years old, and the water heater about 30 years old. Realtor said don't touch a thing. The flippers who bought the house replaced the windows but I was by there a few months ago and talked to the folks who live there and that now 60 year old furnace and ac are still going strong.
I know my mom had one of those free energy audits done about 10 years ago by an independent contractor approved by her utility company. Windows, furnace, ac were all on the list of things he said were very inefficient. Then he logged into the utility records of my mom's energy use to show her how long it would take to recoup the expense of the energy upgrades. He just shook his head. Asked her if she ever actually ran the a/c and heater because her energy usage was so low. It was over 100 years to recoup the cost! Not an investment an 80 year old is likely to make.

 

[DisLiss]

It all depends on the buyer. If I see one more house covered from top to bottom in grey and white I might scream. They feel cold and boring to me. I'd rather see personality--even if I don't like the style for myself.

I hate trendiness. For example, I actually love the color gray, but the overuse of it right now makes me want to avoid it for awhile. I also hate things that everyone loves today and they'll all hate 2 years from now...barn doors, anyone? (Ugh, we stayed at a hotel with a barn door style door on the actual bathroom--like where the toilet and shower/tub were located. What a disaster! And it was a new hotel. The lock was so difficult because the door moved around too much, there was no muffling of sound at all, and when you were in the bathroom it was like being in a public restroom stall with big gaps of light on both sides. My 8 year old was having a fit about it.)

Anyway, also, if you have really solid, well-made features in your house, I think it's particularly tragic if you remove any of them to put in something new and trendy that likely isn't made as well, because a few years from now it will be so outdated that people are just going to rip it out anyway. Like taking out hardwood floors for those plank looking faux wood floors. Hardwood floors can be refinished, fixed, re-stained, to last over a century if properly cared for. Those faux wood floors can only be replaced in damaged or if you grow weary of the look of fake grey stained wood.

But I know that I am probably in the minority and most people want to walk in and say "Oh!! It looks like Chip & Joanna designed it!! Yay!!". So if you can inexpensively toss in some of that look, I can see a realtor suggesting it. (Ugh. )

 

[Searc]

I guess it depends on the quality of the furnace, roofing materials, water heater and windows. I sold my parents 53 year old house with the original furnace and a/c and windows. The roof was about 10 years old, and the water heater about 30 years old. Realtor said don't touch a thing. The flippers who bought the house replaced the windows but I was by there a few months ago and talked to the folks who live there and that now 60 year old furnace and ac are still going strong.
I know my mom had one of those free energy audits done about 10 years ago by an independent contractor approved by her utility company. Windows, furnace, ac were all on the list of things he said were very inefficient. Then he logged into the utility records of my mom's energy use to show her how long it would take to recoup the expense of the energy upgrades. He just shook his head. Asked her if she ever actually ran the a/c and heater because her energy usage was so low. It was over 100 years to recoup the cost! Not an investment an 80 year old is likely to make.

You couldn't pay me to purchase a house with ancient guts like that. The housing market in CA is very different than it is here.

 

[DisLiss]

Just wanted to add that I'd be so pleased to buy a house with new a/c, new water heater, new roof, etc., because to me that says "I get to spend my money on the "fun" stuff."

 

[Searc]

Just wanted to add that I'd be so pleased to buy a house with new a/c, new water heater, new roof, etc., because to me that says "I get to spend my money on the "fun" stuff."

I've got the place for you!!

 

[tvguy]

You couldn't pay me to purchase a house with ancient guts like that. The housing market in CA is very different than it is here.

My mindset is different. I want to pick the brand and quality of appliance in my house. But your mindset is more in tune with the majority of folks. My heat pump will be 29 years old next month, I have money saved to replace it, and I have it serviced twice a year. The techs say it could go tomorrow or last another 29 years, but that a person with my mindset won't be happy with current heat pumps. Mine came with a 10 year warranty. New ones don't have much more than a 5 year warranty and probably won't last much more than 10 years because all the electronics needed for energy efficiency will fail, and the parts won't be available. Mine cost $3,300 installed in 1991. A replacement will be about $10,000 or more. We have some strict energy rules in California so basically EVERYTHING (ducts, return duct and thermostat) will have to be replaced.

 

[VandVsmama]

Like it or not, the average homebuyer doesn't have much imagination. In other words, some things that seem minor to the seller in terms of cosmetics end up being a BIG thing that the buyer cannot see past. We sold our house 2 yr ago and it needed a few things done to it. Most importantly, it needed new carpeting and almost EVERY wall in the house needed to be repainted.

The carpet was 13 yr old and looked awful. There was no salvaging it. So we bought some cheap carpet on sale at Home Depot that came with free installation. About $3000. That was worth it.

We painted every single room ourselves. It took a couple of months and it was a lot of work. Of course, after that, then all the baseboards looked awful, so I repainted all the baseboards. Totally worth the effort, though. Our real estate agent said it made an enormous difference.

We completely took all of our personality out of the house. No personal photos. All of my Disney stuff got put away. Paid for the house to be professionally cleaned top to bottom a week before it went on the market. Had a massive garage sale and got rid of a bunch of our junk.

In the backyard and front yard, I did a lot of work on the weekends for 2 months leading up to putting the house on the market. Mostly cleaning things up, tidying up the garden, getting rid of dead branches and garden clutter that made things look a little on the shabby side.

It was a LOT of work. But at the end of the day, we got a cash offer on the house within a week of it going on the market.

 

[lisaviolet]

Sorry that didn't work out - you'd be in the sweet-spot with a revenue property in the GTA right now.

Yep considering I just saw a bachelor - less than 400 square feet - listed for over
500 000 this week!

 

[lisaviolet]

Like it or not, the average homebuyer doesn't have much imagination.

Yep.

And a plus for buyers who do!

 

[Darcy03231]

Price is going to be a big determining factor in whether or not you decide to paint. Keep in mind that some buyer's can't see beyond what's on the walls to see the "bones" of the house and others will be looking for a discount factoring in they have to paint (unless you're in a market where things are selling quickly).

As I posted upthread, we did everything to make our house as move-in ready as possible. In fact, the buyer's inspector couldn't find anything we had to fix. A lot of people don't want to paint/don't know how to paint and would have to hire someone to do it, which is an expense or don't have the time to do it before they move in. Paint is cheap and any easy way to freshen up your house.

Once we sold, we bought a fixer-upper. Bones were good, it had a new roof and had a great location. However, it needed a new well, heating system, electrical system, and plumbing. Almost all the rooms had wallpaper and those that were painted were in terrible colors (lime green anyone). The kitchen was horrible and the appliances at least 15-20 years old. The yard was non-existent/overgrown and trees needed to be removed. Why did we buy it? The price was right. The sellers took into account everything that needed to be done.

 

[tvguy]

Once we sold, we bought a fixer-upper. Bones were good, it had a new roof and had a great location. However, it needed a new well, heating system, electrical system, and plumbing. Almost all the rooms had wallpaper and those that were painted were in terrible colors (lime green anyone). The kitchen was horrible and the appliances at least 15-20 years old. The yard was non-existent/overgrown and trees needed to be removed. Why did we buy it? The price was right. The sellers took into account everything that needed to be done.

We bought a 4 year old home from a couple in their 60's (I was going to say elderly, but 37 years ago when we bought the house, they were the age DW and I are now!).
We pulled up. Wrought iron bars on all the windows. Talk about horrible curb appeal. Even worse, they had no interior releases. In a fire, you were toast. Was this a high crime area? No.
Walked in, wrought iron book case. Wrought iron furniture. These people were wrought iron fanatics. Nothing to do with security. Throw in the salmon orange wall in the family, grass cloth wall paper, pretty ugly, and no landscaping in the back But the house was only 4 years old. Cost me nothing to take down the wrought iron bars. Donated them to the fire department for their "don't do this in your home" display home. I think we spent $150 on paint, and a lot of labor, but we got it where we wanted it. Hydroseeded the back after putting in sprinklers.

 

[tvguy]

There is a reason realtors suggest paint and staging (our agency paid for the staging).

LOL on staging. I sold my parents 53 year old house to flippers. It was move in ready, if you wanted to move into 1960! The house had a fire place in the family room, and a fire place in the living room. They were independent of each other, each with it's own chimney. I toured the house after they finished their extensive remodel. They took out the fireplace in the living room. The stager.....put a FAKE fireplace where the real fireplace had been!!!!

 

[gwynne]

You really have to know your market. These days, old roof, old HVAC, old mismatched appliances and dated interior can equal many days on the market and eventually a low selling price.
You only have a shot at having a "new" listing once. And the listing gets old faster than many sellers would think.
We've always done as much as reasonably possible to keep our home marketable. That way, if we need to sell we're somewhat ahead of the game.

 

[mrodgers]

What kind of house is it. Cookie cutter fancy smancy McMansion on a postage stamp lot surrounded by all the same houses? Or is it a an old country farmhouse that the kids get lost for hours playing with sticks in the woods on the back 40?

Your every day fancy smancy cookie cutter neighborhood homes for outrageous cost, I think the expectation is there that it is already mechanically and constructively sound. All that is left is cosmetic..

We weren't looking at fancy smancy. We were looking at the old farmhouses with room for our kids to play out on the back 40. I didn't get my back 40, only got 2 lousy acres total, but it is expected not only it will need painted and cosmetic work, but also had some minor issues mechanically and constructively to deal with. I looked at houses with 70's shag carpet, 60's and 70's kitchen, lauan used as wall panels and ceiling surface that I would have needed to drywall. I looked at houses that had old furnaces, didn't have furnaces at all, or old and new appliances alike. The house we bought didn't have AC. 17 years we lived there without central AC and could only get an expensive casement window AC unit for the 1 window it would work in. I never had the chance to save up to purchase central AC. It didn't bother me that the bathroom and kitchen had carpet.

First thing I did was rip out the carpet and put a floor down in the kitchen. Did that because the first thing both of us did in the new house was drop a dozen eggs on the kitchen carpet and I dropped and broke a jar of spaghetti sauce.

 

[tvguy]

You really have to know your market. These days, old roof, old HVAC, old mismatched appliances and dated interior can equal many days on the market and eventually a low selling price.
You only have a shot at having a "new" listing once. And the listing gets old faster than many sellers would think.
We've always done as much as reasonably possible to keep our home marketable. That way, if we need to sell we're somewhat ahead of the game.

I had all those. Sold and closed in 17 days. Well, the roof was newish. A/C, cook top, over all dated to 1960. Pink tiles in the bathrooms and original wall to wall carpeting to 1960. Just depends on the market, and my case the location. People wait in line with cash to buy houses in the area my parents. Not remarkable I guess because apparently one third of all homes sales in Sacramento County are cash sales.

 

[gwynne]

I had all those. Sold and closed in 17 days. Well, the roof was newish. A/C, cook top, over all dated to 1960. Pink tiles in the bathrooms and original wall to wall carpeting to 1960. Just depends on the market, and my case the location. People wait in line with cash to buy houses in the area my parents. Not remarkable I guess because apparently one third of all homes sales in Sacramento County are cash sales.

I don't doubt there are cash buyers looking for a "gut job" cash price in your area of Cali. And it's great it worked out for you.

My post was more for folks in other states and cities of the US who need to get the best possible price for their property.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I agree. You can put a LOT of money into doing cosmetic updates, but not sure what you gain if you aren't able to recoup those costs with a higher selling price. Excessive updates will cost you a lot of $$, but most likely the selling price won't reflect that. TV design shows want you to believe that everyone wants/needs hardwood floors, marble countertops and granite even in the bathrooms.

You will now find ceramic tile being made to LOOK like hardwood, since the reality is that hardwood floors scratch/stain VERY easily, are difficult to maintain and not practical for everyday use from the typical family. Come back in 5 yrs and tell me how those new hardwood floors look if you are a real family with children and perhaps pets running around the house.

Lots of newer homes in my area have engineered hardwood-normally staggered wider planks and often dark wood colors ('hand scrapped' finish is common too which is what we have).

Our cat has all his claws and there's really very minimal damage over the time. Our rental house had full hardwood floors scratched very easily and showed wear and tear much much easier than our engineered hardwood in which it's very difficult to tell if there's a scratch somewhere. The rental house also had big issues with expansion and contracting though TBH that house wasn't made the best so installation may have made that worse.

I would say cleaning wise it's easier with the products on the market to clean full hardwoods (we used Bona on the rental house) and the bonus of being able to sand more than once (which engineered hardwood is normally recommended only up to one time sanding and refinishing if that) but IMO the look of engineered hardwood beats out and it does stand up better to moisture over time over full hardwood. But different markets have different 'looks'.